Patriots & Tyrants (Rebels & Lies Trilogy Book 2) (14 page)

Those pair of wide,
brown eyes stared right back into Harvey’s. He could feel her pain. There was a
time when he had to sit out an operation because of injury. Actually, there
were more times than he cared to remember. Such was the case when running these
rebellious black ops that went against the government. Her condition was
getting worse and there was simply not a chance that she would survive not only
the hike, but the bitter cold they would face as well.

“It’s your choice, of
course,” Harvey said after he cleared his throat. “But, I must advise you to
not go out on this one. Not in your condition.”

Krys faked a laugh.
“My condition hasn’t stopped me, yet. Not going to now.”

“Look, I understand…”

“How can you
understand?”

“I understand because
I’m a soldier. I’ve had these talks with others before. Had the same talks
directed at me, too. Look…”

“I’m going, Sam.
That’s the end of it.”

Harvey stood from his
stool and looked down at his comrade. There was great admiration inside for the
woman’s fighting spirit. But, there was a time to go with your balls out, so to
speak, and a time to sit one out. This was a time for the latter, but there
would be no getting through to her, and he knew it. Ever since they linked up,
her mind and her focus had been on one thing. Spreading the word about the USR
experiments and finding a cure. Although the unit’s activities had led to less
time for spreading any kind of word, she was about to embark on her second, and
most important, obsession. It would take a bullet to stop her.

Through the front of
the tent, Kaspar entered with two cups of steaming coffee in his hands. He
looked shocked to see Harvey here. The sight of the leader, looking so
concerned while talking to Krys, caused him to have chill bumps. Harvey stood
and shared a salute with Krys. The leader didn’t say anything to Kaspar as he
walked out. Kaspar took a seat at the stool and handed over a cup of coffee to
Krys. She took it and slowly sipped at the steaming hot liquid.

“What was that about?”
Kaspar asked as he blew on his coffee before taking a sip.

“It was about the next
mission. I was told not to say anything about it.”

Kaspar raised his
right eyebrow. “Really?”

Krys smirked back.
“Yeah. He told me not to tell you that I’m being asked to sit this next mission
out.”

Kaspar’s heart sank
and all the playful little emotions on his face disappeared. In their place was
an ice cold stare. His mind raced as to what would happen next. Why would they
ask her not to tag along on this one? Even with her worsening condition, she
was one of the best and most valuable assets Harvey had at his disposal. It
could’ve had something to do with the added reinforcements that Sanders
character brought along with him. There was only one way to find out and he was
too afraid to ask.

As he studied her, he
didn’t notice anything different physically. There were no more lesions around
her neck. If there were any new ones, they weren’t large enough to really
notice. Her voice sounded weak, but that was nothing different, either. It had
to be the added guns, Kaspar figured.

“What do you think?”
Kaspar asked.

“You know I’m not
going to sit this one out. Not when we’re this close.” Krys replied.

“So, tell him to kiss
your ass.”

“It’s not that
simple.”

Oh, Christ.
Kaspar thought.
Here we go.

“Huh?”

“The security at this
place is no picnic.”

“Of course not.
Especially if they’ve got in there what we think is there.”

Krys tried to raise
herself up from the bed but was too weak. Kaspar moved in and placed his hand
on her head. He could feel her getting colder. The weather was getting colder,
too, the further northwest they moved. The cold weather did nothing to help her
get comfortable. They were told that they would have another day’s drive before
they were close to the target. It would be another long day in the armored
vehicle for her. Those bumps in the road didn’t allow her to sleep, which was
what she needed more than anything else.

“We’ve got to park the
vehicles about ten miles from the compound where we won’t be seen. Then, we’ve
got to hike the rest of the way.” Krys informed.

“Shit.” Kaspar
replied.

“Tell me about it.
That’s a rough hike even for a healthy person.”

Kaspar looked her
straight in the eye. “You can’t make that hike.”

“What?”

“You heard me. It’s
not only ten miles of walking, with all of your equipment, but we’re going to
be in the mountains. The cold, not to mention any obstacles we might run into.
You’d be dead before we even got there in your condition.”

Krys frowned.
“Everyone keeps saying that ‘in your condition’ bullshit. I know that I can do
it. Nothing’s ever stopped me before.”

“You’ve got to pick
your battles, Krys. You know deep down you couldn’t make it that far out in the
cold.”

“I’m sure as hell
going to give it a try.”

Kaspar sighed. “Try to
get up out of bed.”

“What?”

“Give it a try.”

The sight of the woman
he loved being so sick that she wasn’t able to get out of bed almost brought
tears to Kaspar’s eyes. He watched her struggle until he couldn’t stand it any
longer. He repeated over and over that it was okay to stop trying. Krys simply
kept pushing until she was seated upright.

“You see, I’ve got
this.” she said.

Kaspar ran his fingers
through her hair and kissed her cheek. Krys moved her head over and rested the
cheek on his forehead. Her body trembled as she began to weep. With the sound
of the crying, Kaspar wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. Whispers
in her ear that everything was going to be okay didn’t stop the expressions of
sadness from pouring out. Kaspar knew how embarrassed Krys was right now. With
her strong will and cocky attitude, the scene that just now unfolded must’ve
felt like the lowest point in her existence.

“We’ll get this cure,”
Kaspar said. “I’m going to personally inject it into you. I’m going to save
you.”

“I hope you do,
really, I do.” Krys replied.

“In order for me to do
that, you need to stay alive. You’ve got to sit this one out, baby.”

“Okay,” Krys said. The
words were almost too hard to say. “I’ll sit this one out.”

“You will?”

“Yes, I will. Don’t
make me say it again or I’ll puke.”

Kaspar let go of her
and stared straight in her eyes. There were still a few tears running down her
cheek. With his fingers, he brushed them away. She managed to smile at him and,
although it was hard given the circumstances, Kaspar smiled back.

“Your ass better make
it, though. I’m not going to sit back and you not make it.”

“I’ll make it. You
know me.”

The mission brief went
well enough Harvey thought as he sat down in his tent. Of course, Sanders took
complete control over the mission brief from Harvey and didn’t even allow the
man to speak the entire time. The act had gotten old. This was his team and his
operation. Now, Sanders was acting like it was he who discovered this compound
and that Sanders, not Harvey, asked for the help. It was complete bullshit.

Over to his side was
another cup of coffee. With his fingers gripped on the warm Styrofoam, he
brought the steaming liquid to his lips. After he let the hot liquid run down
his throat, he reached over for his pack of cigarettes. Just as he was lighting
up, Buck walked into the tent. The kid didn’t say anything. He simply walked
into his father’s tent and rested himself on the bed.

Buck reached into his
pocket for a tennis ball and began to throw it in the air. Harvey was familiar
with the game that his son played right now. During the wars he fought in,
there was a lot of time to sit around in your tent and await your next order.
Harvey began to throw a tennis ball in the air with the object being to get as
close to the top without actually hitting it. A smile crept on his lips while
he watched his son playing it just like he did.

“What do you think
about the mission?” Harvey asked.

Buck’s eyes remained
on the top as he continued the game. “Sounds good. No bombs this time. No
chance for me to screw something up.”

Harvey sighed. “You’re
never going to get over this if you keep on beating yourself up.”

“I know that, but I can’t
stop thinking about it. Would he still be alive if I hadn’t been on that
mission? Is it really my fault? I can’t bring myself to answer any of those
questions.”

“War, and life for
that matter, is full of unanswered questions. All we can do as men and women is
try to learn from the past.”

“Yeah, well, I’m still
hurt by what happened, okay.”

“Nobody said you
couldn’t feel any kind of emotion towards it. But, let that emotion make you
stronger, not bring you down.”

“Whatever.”

Buck continued to play
his game while Harvey looked down at the ground taken aback by his son’s blatant
disrespect. There was a voice in the back of his head telling him to kick the
little bastard out. Instead, he just sat there, staring at the ground wondering
how he could get it through his son’s thick head that death on the battlefield
was inevitable. It almost felt like Buck did this kind of crap on purpose. When
he finally looked up, Buck was just lying there, the tennis ball rested on his
chest.

“You ever think about
mom?” Buck asked with his eyes still straight up.

Harvey’s face turned
ice cold. “Where’s this coming from?”

“I’m just asking if
you ever think about her.”

“Of course I think
about her. She was the love of my life. The best parts of my life were with
her.”

“I see,” Buck said.

After another moment
of silence, Harvey spoke up. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“I’m sure you didn’t.
I’m going to go somewhere by myself and think.”

“Son, let’s talk about
this.”

Buck had already
gotten up from the cot. When he heard his father’s voice, he stopped dead in
his tracks. He didn’t turn his body around to face his father. Instead, he
merely turned his head and gave him half his face.

“Come on back in.”
Harvey pleaded.

“There’s nothing to
say.” Buck said before he walked out.

Harvey gripped his cup
of coffee and threw it to the ground. Words were never a strong suit for him.
It seemed like he said things that could easily be twisted around to mean
something completely different from what he intended. Buck knew this, of
course, so when the little shit got angry or frustrated, he pulled a stunt like
he just did. Now, Harvey was the bad guy once again while his son got to walk
around and play the victim.

The rebel leader was
ready to get up and grab another cup of Joe when Sanders walked into the tent,
unannounced. Harvey felt like the luckiest man on the face of the planet. Just
when he needed a pick me up, there stood the one person that he wanted to see.
Sanders gave an expression that asked permission to walk in without actually
saying those words. Harvey nodded and stood from his stool. Sanders walked in
and sat down on the stool while Harvey moved over to his cot.

“What’s going on with
that little puke?” Sanders wondered.

“Father and son
bullshit. You need to talk to me, Roy?”

“I sure as hell didn’t
come here to sit on your comfortable stool. Why don’t you get us both a cup?”

Harvey held back what
he wanted to say and instead went over to his coffee pot and poured out two
cups. Sanders was a lot like himself when it came to coffee. Both wanted theirs
to be straight up black. No sugar or cream to ruin one of God’s greatest gifts.
As he handed over the cup to Sanders, he felt a sense of shame once again. Not
only did Sanders take over this operation, he was now giving orders in Harvey’s
own tent. Regret for asking for his help began to cloud the old Marine’s
thoughts. The regrets were always overruled by the realization that this
operation would not be successful without Sanders’s guns and his strategic
thinking.

“What’s up?” Harvey
finally asked.

Sanders took a sip
from the cup. “Just wanted to get your thoughts on the briefing.”

“Your delivery was
impeccable.”

Sanders put on a
scowl. “I don’t give two rat’s asses about how I delivered it. I’m a soldier,
not some faggot public speaker. What did you think about the mission plan?”

“I think you’ve got it
all figured out, Roy. What else do you want from me?”

“So, you don’t have
any thoughts, any suggestions, nothing?”

“I just don’t know
about that hike. We’ll be worn to hell before we even reach the compound. The
weather conditions won’t be favorable, either.”

“Those little pussies
you’ve got under your command better cowboy the fuck up. I know my men can make
it.”

Harvey’s face turned a
beet red. “My men are brave and they’ve been through a lot together. Don’t you
ever disrespect them like that again, you get me?”

Sanders remained
undeterred by the threat and gave Harvey a smirk. “What are you going to do
about it? I’ve already taken over this mission with little resistance from
you.”

“You really want to
make this about you and me? We don’t have time. I don’t have the energy to
waste on these petty little arguments. I needed your help and I’m humble enough
to admit that you’re a better strategist than me. I just don’t feel comfortable
with that hike.”

Sanders thought on
that for a moment then took another sip. “You still thinking about that girl?
Did you talk to her, yet?”

“Yes. She doesn’t like
being asked to sit out a mission.”

“She’ll get over it.
Once we get that cure in her, she’ll be right as rain, killing the bad guys
again. Is she why you don’t like the hike?”

Harvey laughed to
relieve the tension he felt. “I don’t like the hike because I don’t fucking
like it.”

“Let’s move onto
something else, then.”

“What?” Harvey
demanded.

“That boy, Ryan I
think, he’s totally got it out for that woman. Do you trust him on this?”

“What’s that supposed
to mean?”

“You know what I mean.
Is he going to jeopardize this Op trying to be a hero for that woman?”

Harvey hadn’t thought
about this before. If they got the cure and there was very little of it, and
they had to conserve it, he knew that Kaspar would give his life if needed to
make sure that Krys got a dose. Still, there was an entire compound full of the
stuff. It had to be assumed that that building was only there to produce it.
Harvey considered that outcome to be a very remote possibility. But, it was
still a possibility.

“I trust him,” Harvey
said after thinking the details through in his head. “If anything, I think
he’ll fight harder.”

“What if something
goes wrong? Like we were sent on a wild goose chase and there’s nothing there?”

“He’ll be fine. You
worry about your own men, Roy. I’ve got mine under control.”

“Control? That sounds
like something you struggle with.”

“This conversation is
over. You can see your way out.”

Sanders was again
defiant. He gave Harvey another smirk before he stood from his chair and walked
out. There was something mumbled under his breath as he left the tent. Harvey
didn’t pay any attention to it.

The rocky relationship
was only getting rockier.